We’re finally getting married!

In the typical Washington, DC fashion, we met on a dating app. While Alyssa was in grad school at GW, her friends had signed her up for Bumble, which she neglected to ever use herself. After several days of studying, she decided to take a break to mindlessly swipe and scope out some eligible men… until she got to Kevin’s profile. All it took was one look at those bright green eyes, and she knew she wanted to meet him. Kevin was the first and last guy Alyssa talked to on Bumble. So at the end of the week, during the start of the government shut down, we decided to meet up at Provisions 14, and the rest is history.

After dating for roughly 4.5 years, Kevin knew it was time to pop the question. With his cousin Sarah’s wedding coming up, he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it if he wasn’t engaged by then. Kevin had already asked Alyssa’s parents for their blessing, and it was just a matter of how he was going to do it… He had consulted with Alyssa’s sister, Shannon, for some ideas and ultimately decided on her parents house. Kevin knew Alyssa wanted a private(ish) proposal, but one that wouldn’t be too far from her family. While the 4th of July is a holiday that wasn’t near or dear the hearts of either Kevin or Alyssa, it sure would be soon. A month or so before the big day, Kevin asked Alyssa's local siblings, Patrick and Chandler, to pick up the ring, which Kevin had already picked out with the help of Alyssa’s mom, Michele. Kevin and Michele had picked the ring out together while Alyssa was in Las Vegas for her best friend, Riley's bachelorette party. Alyssa had no idea everyone was in cahoots about the big proposal. To Alyssa, it was just any other 4th of July with some friends and family gathering and enjoying one another’s company. Kevin was hoping for beautiful weather that would produce a jaw-dropping sunset for the proposal, and as the evening drew near everyone was growing restless with anticipation. Dinner had just ended and Kevin sneakily grabbed the ring he had hid up in the lights of the living room, and put it in his back pocket. The time had come when Alyssa got up from the dinner table and started walking towards the water. Kevin quickly followed suit and grabbed her hand. Kevin had told everyone in attendance beforehand that he would be proposing near the boathouse along the shoreline. As the happy couple approached the water Kevin asked Alyssa, “Do you want to go pick some spearmint?” (Kevin found out there was spearmint growing near the boathouse while he was weed whacking one summer day). Alyssa said, “My mom already picked some” to which Kevin replied “lets just go anyway.” Soon thereafter Kevin got down on one knee, and asked the awestruck Alyssa if she would marry him to which she replied “Yes!” with tears in her eyes. Sparks were in the air and the fireworks hadn’t even started.